I think civil rights activists like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are making a big mistake. They have shown a lack of leadership when it comes to acknowledging the bad behavior of some of the people in the black community. I know there are a lot of blacks that do not associate with these mobs and criminal elements in the black community. Unfortunately the criminal, guy-like behavior of some blacks is helping reinforce the negative stereotype blacks have been labeled with. Instead of addressing this issue these cowardly black leaders ignore it completely. What will come in the future if these trends continue is a race war and the blacks will lose out big time in the USA. All it takes is one major event that escalates out of control.

It is in the best interest of black leaders to show leadership and hold their own community accountable when they do harm to others.

Great Post. If I was an articulate Black guy, I would lecture at schools every chance I'd get. I would speak out against emulating the Thug lifestyle. I would hold community meetings with parents..I'd...wait a minute..who am I kidding...Unless I lectured on "The Evils of the White Man"..they'd only laugh at me. I guess there's no hope...no one wants to hear the truth.

The Knockout Game: Racial Violence and the Conspicuous Silence of the MediaBy John T. Bennett

By now, almost everyone has seen one of the semi-amusing videos of black teen mobs rampaging through a store. Maybe we've even seen the non-amusing pictures of the victims, or heard their stories. Most Americans have heard of recent violent "flash mobs," which are the bands of black teens that attack mostly white victims and white businesses, as even the New York Times once noted.But the flash mobs, which are more accurately called "race riots" or "racial mob violence," are not the only interesting topic to cover in our national conversation about race. There is also the "knockout game," which is stunning in its brutal simplicity and stark racial significance.The knockout game involves "unprovoked attacks on innocent bystanders," according to police who have had to deal with it. A retired officer explained, "Normally it was a group of black males, one of which would strike him as hard as he could in the face, attempting to knock him out with one punch," says retired Sgt. Don Pizzo. The victims are typically not robbed, but simply punched with no provocation. Such attacks have been reported in Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, and New Jersey. The knockout game has claimed at least one life so far. In St. Louis this year, 72-year old Hoang Nguyen was walking with his wife, Yen, when four "young people" attacked. The attacker pushed the old man's face to the side to make a "clear target for his fist," recalled his wife. Nguyen was punched so hard that he fell to the ground and struck his head. Then the attacker turned on Nguyen's 59-year-old wife, punching her so hard that she suffered a broken eye socket. She could only watch as her husband was then kicked repeatedly. Hoang succumbed to his injuries later that day. A young black male, 18-year-old Elex Murphy, is charged with first-degree murder.In addition, a mob of young black males can be seen playing the game here. The video shows the group attacking a young white man named Adam Taylor, who was left with internal bleeding, bruising of the brain, severe whiplash, and scratches on his face when he was beaten in Columbia, MO in 2009.Sgt. Pizzo noted that the attacks fit a pattern: "black attackers on a white victim -- and the victim was often an older person walking alone." In a thorough and sensible piece on the subject in a local arts and entertainment magazine, eight of the victims interviewed were white, one was black, and one was Latino. All of the attackers, or "players," were black. Some witnesses claim that they have white relatives who play the game and that therefore the game is not a racial issue. But anyone who reviews the reporting -- when race is revealed, at least -- will see that the attackers are predominantly if not exclusively black.As one player of the game says, "[w]e used to walk to where a lot of people be at and hit 'em. If one of the homeboys didn't knock him out, then the other would come. Whoever knock him out would be king."Local media outlets have failed to report on the racial aspect of the attacks. At best, the media will allow the race of attackers to be revealed by mugshots, or quotations from police or victims. This follows a conscious policy of self-censorship that has been openly admitted by major newspapers.A New York Times editor says that his paper will report on race "only if it's relevant to the story" or if readers would "learn something" from the description. The Chicago Tribune's editor, Gerould Kern, explains his paper's "approach" to concealing the truth: "We do not reference race unless it is a fact that is central to telling the story." Of course, no guilt-ridden white liberal editor will ever admit that race is relevant, unless of course a white is attacking minorities. The Los Angeles Times explains that the media will not report race because they don't want to "unfairly stigmatize racial groups." The Washington Post ombudsman openly admits that the Times's staff "worried about hyping a story that involved race" when blacks brawled on the Metro. Instead of stigmatizing racial groups, the liberal media prefers to condemn minorities via low expectations and preferential, secretive reporting -- which only creates a cloud of ominous suspicion over the race issue. But at least racial groups aren't being stigmatized.A senior reporter from the Houston Chronicle admits, "We don't ever include race normally -- unless race is made an issue by other people." In other words, if racial interest groups make something of the issue, race will become part of the story. And we all know which racial groups advocate on their own behalf, and which one doesn't.The liberal media policy of resolute silence about race and crime may strike a reasonable observer as troubling, given the violence and obvious racial aspect of the knockout game and flash mob attacks. The net effect of this Orwellian reporting is to place minority feelings above the public interest in safety. For those of us who are curious about our society and group behavior, who should be able to rely on the professional media, the reporting is worthless.When the liberal media does touch on the topic of race and flash mobs, it is only to condemn conservative blogs for mentioning race at all. The Village Voice, for instance, thoughtlessly dismisses the concerns about racial mob violence, reasoning that because crime is falling, racial mob violence shouldn't be criticized. The progressive tendency will be to define these stories as isolated incidents -- it is easy extrapolate a social problem, but that could be misleading in the big picture.But the knockout game must be seen in the context of black-on-white violence in America. The big picture is that black-on-white violence is a social problem that deserves more attention, regardless of whether the overall crime rate is rising or falling. Department of Justice statistics show that 33% of white murder victims are killed by a non-white, while only 8% of black murder victims are killed by a non-black1. Even greater disparities exist in violent crime and robbery2.

Some of those who work with these kids blame boredom and the kids' need to prove their toughness. Those causes will be present for a long time, thus the problem will remain. Moreover, the problem will predictably get worse, as some of the mobs are armed.

Nguyen will not receive the same attention as Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. After all, Hoang was not the victim of white hatred, so he is not a household name...but he should be.NotesQ1Violent State Prisoners and Their Victims, Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics 5, July 1990 quoted in James B. Jacobs and Kimberly Potter, Hate Crimes: Criminal Law and Identity Politics 17 (1998).

Family, friends and co-workers Saturday mourned the loss of a UGA graduate killed in a Midtown shooting spree, while her alleged assailant waived his rights to appear before a Fulton County magistrate.

Nkosi Thandiwe, 22, remained in the Fulton County Jail, charged with first-degree murder in a lunchtime triple shooting that left Brittney Watts, 26, of Decatur dead and two other women wounded Friday. The shooting occurred in a parking deck at 14th Street and Crescent Avenue.

Thandiwe's next court appearance is July 29 at 9 a.m. at the Fulton County Courthouse in downtown Atlanta.

Grief-stricken relatives reached at a Roswell home Saturday had little to say about Watts' death. Two women who answered a door at the home, where vehicles lined the street, would only say "no comment" before retreating back into the house.

But a glimpse of her life was detailed on the wedding website The Knot. According to her posting in 2008, Brittney Fox, her maiden name, grew up in Roswell and attended Roswell High School, where she was a cheerleader and played tennis. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2007 with a degree in advertising and sociology.

She met her husband, Brian Watts, while attending Roswell High and they married on Hilton Head Island in 2008. He played basketball for Roswell High but had graduated and was attending UGA and playing hoops for the Bulldogs when they met. Brian Watts graduated from UGA in 2005 with a degree in real estate and went on to receive a master’s degree in business-entrepreneurship.

Watts was a digital planning supervisor for 22squared at the time of her death. According to Linkedin, she joined the company in 2008 as a digital media planner. Before joining 22squared, she was an interactive media planner for Fitzgerald & Co. in Atlanta. Her wedding post also cited her stint at Fitzgerald & Co., which offered its condolences in a Twitter posting Friday.

Her online posting on The Knot said Brittney Watts enjoyed wine tasting, reading, shopping, and music.

Details about her alleged killer, however, were more sketchy.

Efforts to reach the family of Nkosi Thandiwe also were unsuccessful Satruday, but at least one neighbor where he lived recently in southwest.Atlanta recall a “respectful” man.

Gloria Butler, who lives across the street from a home on West Manor Lane where Thandiwe once lived, said she last saw him in September when he came over to offer his condolences on the death of her mother. “He was just a very respectful young man.”

But another elderly neighbor who lived next door recalled that occupants of the home would occasionally fired guns into the air in the back yard. That neighbor did not want to be identified.

Neither neighbor could say whether the suspect still lived in the brick house, which wasn’t as neat on the outside as other homes in the community.

A detention officer at the jail said Thandiwe's father, who was not identified, appeared for Saturday's hearing but left the jail without comment. A man leaving lashed out at the news media trying to question him.

Thandiwe's lawyer, Rickey Richardson, did not comment on why his client waived his right to Saturday's hearing. Bond has not been set in the case.

Thandiwe turned himself in late Friday afternoon, police said. He was charged with one count of murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

The shooting occurred shortly before noon Friday. Police say Thandiwe, a security guard at the Proscenium building, was hired to protect the building where the three victims worked.

Authorities said Watts encountered the gunman as he lay in wait on the third floor of the parking deck. He fired one shot, hitting her in the neck, then got into her Toyota Prius and drove away.

Police issued an area-wide lookout for the car, including a license plate number described by witnesses, and for a man matching Thandiwe's description.

Maj. Keith Meadows, head of Atlanta Police Department's major crimes division, said investigators believed the gunman was waiting for Watts.

As the gunman exited the parking garage, he fired several more shots, hitting Lauren Garcia, a 23-year-old intern for Midtown public relations firm the MSL Atlanta, and her co-worker, Tiffany Ferenczy, 24. Police believe they may have been random victims.

Rod Wright, Ferenczy's father, told Channel 2 Action News his daughter was going to have lunch with a group of co-workers when gunfire exploded on Crescent Street.

"All of a sudden, the car came out [of the garage entrance],” Wright said. “The car was blocked and the next thing you know, the guy comes out of the car and started shooting. That's when two of the victims got shot … my daughter and the other girl."

What followed was pandemonium, witnesses say.

Meredith Smith ran into the parking deck for cover when the shooting began.

"We were crossing the street and we heard a ‘pop, pop, pop, pop' and we ducked for cover inside the garage," Smith said. "When we came out, we saw a lady laying face-down in the middle of the street."

John Kupersmith, who works at Tin Lizzy's, heard the gunshots from the restaurant’s patio. He said rather than driving people inside, the shooting brought more people out of the nearby buildings.

“I was seating tables when I heard four to five gunshots in quick succession,” Kupersmith said. “Everybody went to look. I came out and stuck my head out onto Crescent. There was a pretty big group of people on the street.

“And a lot of people were surrounding the lady who was face-down on the ground.”

Garcia lay in the street, a bullet wound in her back, her purse and shoes strewn out across the ground in front of the entrance to the parking deck.

Ferenczy was hit in the leg.

"We're very fortunate," Wright said of his daughter. "[She was] shot in the calf ... she's going to be OK."

Ferenczy was relased from a local hospital, said Wright. She was back at her Atlanta home Sunday morning, he said.

Watts was found in the parking deck dead, a single shot to her neck, police said.

"We are deeply saddened by today's unimaginable tragedy and the loss of Brittney Watts," said Julianna Bowman, a spokeswoman for 22squared, the Midtown marketing firm where Watts worked. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Brittney's loved ones, MSL group and MSL's employees who were injured today."

Investigators are looking at whether the gunman was a disgruntled employee who targeted Watts.

"It was a pretty bold move of him to shoot so many people in the middle of the day," Meadows said.

AlliedBarton Security Services confirmed that Thandiwe had worked for the company a little less than a year. The company said it conducted a thorough background screening under the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s security personnel clearance requirements, and Thandiwe's background check revealed no prior incidents.

The stolen Prius was recovered in southwest Atlanta, police said.

Police blocked off traffic along 14th street between Peachtree and West Peachtree streets and from 14th to 13th streets shortly after the lunchtime shooting until about 4 p.m., and patrons parked at the parking deck weren't allowed to remove their cars until then.

Businesses adjacent to the parking deck saw their lunch crowds thin as few people could reach the restaurant on Crescent if they weren’t already at one of the establishments, owners said.

Investigators are reviewing video footage from surveillance cameras inside the parking deck, and perched atop street lights and traffic lights at the intersection of 14th and Crescent and along Crescent.

DENVER -- Police are trying to identify a gang of men who are beating couples with baseball bats and robbing them in downtown Denver.

Denver police spokesman Sonny Jackson said there have been two attacks, each involving the robbery of a couple leaving restaurants or bars at closing time.

Just before 2 a.m. on July 16, a couple was walking home from a restaurant-bar near East 10th Avenue and Pennsylvania Street when they were surrounded by a group of men, according to a police report.

Two men wielding baseball bats hit the man and woman in the head, "causing major bruising and swelling," the report said. Then a robber grabbed the woman's purse.

The man and woman were transported to Denver Health Medical Center for treatment, police said.

On June 26 near 1000 Broadway, a couple was in an alley near their vehicle when a group of men walked up and "assaulted them with a baseball bat and demanded money," a police report said. The robbers grabbed the woman's purse and ran to a waiting car, police said.

The attackers are “not nice people," Jackson said.

Police describe the attackers as four to five black men, ages 18 to 21 years.

Anyone with information about the identity of the robbers, the crimes or unreported incidents is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 720-913-7867. People calling the tip line can choose to remain anonymous. Report a typo or inaccuracy

This past weekend, a former mayor had his business vandalized and another community leader got beat up in Center City Park.

"One of the teenagers came up from behind and just punched me in the back and kicked me and knocked me to the floor. Then, he just continued to kick me, punch me, step on me. People were screaming," Mitchel Sommers, executive director of the Community Theatre of Greensboro said.

The swarm came from nowhere and the beating lasted seconds.

"Within a minute, I'd say, hundreds and hundreds and hundreds...I'm not being dramatic...hundreds of young people...just came descending upon this area," he said. "There were so many young people. I would say all the way from across Elm Street all the way to the park. You couldn't even get out of the swarm of young people."

Oakland police responded to a shooting in the 1000 block of 47th at 12:33 a.m. and found at least two shooting victims inside a van.

Police said a man and a woman were with their two young children and were handing out food to the homeless when they were shot. Police said the family had just pulled to the side of the road when an unknown suspect pulled up alongside them and opened fire on their van.

The family lives in East Oakland and often handed out food at night. People who know the family said most of the time the father went alone on these kind of trips, but last night he had his wife and two children with him.

Police said the woman's injuries were considered minor, but the man suffered a life threatening wound and remains in critical condition at an area hospital Wednesday.

Police: 4 Shot After George Clinton Concert (Unity in the Park)Fox/AP ^ Posted on July 31, 2011 8:48:46 AM EDT by nuconvert

Cleveland – Several shots rang out from a handgun during a large fight near an outdoor concert venue in Cleveland, leaving four people wounded after a "Unity in the Park" festival featuring funk music artist George Clinton, police said Sunday.

(WI) Scare at State Fair: witnesses describe mobs, including some claiming racially-charged attacksWTMJ-4 Milwaukee ^ | 8/3/2011 | By Jay Sorgi and the WTMJ News Team

WEST ALLIS - Witnesses tell Newsradio 620 WTMJ and TODAY'S TMJ4 of a mob of young people attacking innocent fair-goers at the end of the opening night of State Fair, with some callers claiming a racially-charged scene.

Milwaukee Police confirmed there were assaults outside the fair.

Witnesses' accounts claim everything from dozens to hundreds of young black people beating white people as they left State Fair Thursday night.

"It looked like they were just going after white guys, white people," said Norb Roffers of Wind Lake in an interview with Newsradio 620 WTMJ. He left the State Fair Entrance near the corner of South 84th Street and West Schlinger Avenue in West Allis.

"They were attacking everybody for no reason whatsoever."

"It was 100% racial," claimed Eric, an Iraq war veteran from St. Francis who says young people beat on his car.

According to witnesses, a group of anywhere from 30 to 100 young black men descended on the Wisconsin State Fair last night, beating fairgoers and looting carnival games, in what witnesses said were racially-motivated attacks, Milwaukee's WTMJ reports.

One witness named Eric, an Iraq veteran, said the attacks reminded him of war:

"I had a black couple on my right side, and these black kids were running in between all the cars, and they were pounding on my doors and trying to open up doors on my car, and they didn't do one thing to this black couple that was in this car next to us. They just kept walking right past their car. They were looking in everybody's windshield as they were running by, seeing who was white and who was black. Guarantee it."

Another witness, Norb Roberts, corroborated that: "We were just like cattle being herded out of the park, and they were picking and choosing who they wanted to beat on," he said.

Officials have not yet given an estimate of how many attackers were involved or how many fairgoers were injured.

Police and fair security officials were present at the time of the attacks, but not in sufficient numbers to stop the mob. Also, the Wisconsin State Fair Park Police only have jurisdiction within the fairgrounds, complicating efforts to bring the situation under control.

A deadly night in the city of Detroit with a total of 15 people shot, 6 killedWXYZ-TV ^ | 8-13-2011 Posted on August 13, 2011 11:22:42 PM EDT by Darren McCarty

DETROIT (WXYZ) - It was a deadly night in the city of Detroit. From 6:00 am Friday, August 12th to 6:00 am Saturday, August 13th, a total of fifteen people were shot in the city. Six of those victims died at a total of 9 separate shooting scenes.

Mayor Dave Bing's office released the following statement:

"Reducing violent crime is our number one priority. Chief Godbee and the men and women of the Detroit Police Department are working around the clock to bring these criminals to justice. Our community must continue to work with us to stop this kind of violence. Every resident deserves to be safe and feel safe in their neighborhood."

More Top Stories >> \ Next >> By MIKE HENDRICKS and ERIC ADLERThe Kansas City Star

Kansas City Mayor Sly James vowed Sunday that he’d take steps to end large, nighttime gatherings of unsupervised teenagers and preteens on the Country Club Plaza by holding parents to account.

How, he didn’t know.

But whatever plan is developed, it will be a joint effort of the mayor and the City Council, James said after consultation with school officials, police and the juvenile court, among others. And James promised that the plan will be in place before next weekend.

It may or may not include an early curfew, as some are calling for.

“We can’t expect that imposing a curfew is going to stop some 15-, 16-, 17-year-old from bringing a gun to anywhere,” he said at an afternoon City Hall news conference. “On the other hand, we should be able to expect parents not to have their 13-year-old children on the Plaza getting shot.”

His announcement came a day after the Saturday night shooting that saw three youths wounded and the mayor forced to the ground by his security team. James, along with former Councilman Alvin Brooks and a group of ministers, was at the Plaza talking with kids and assessing the crowd problem in response to calls from Plaza owner Highwoods Properties and others to roll back the current midnight curfew on weekends to 9 p.m.

“A curfew would have merit in our view, but that is a decision our capable mayor and his team of municipal experts need to weigh,” Highwoods said in a statement issued Sunday.

The shootings occurred shortly before 11 p.m. Saturday near 47th and Wyandotte streets. When shots rang out — witnesses reported hearing five or six — James was about 50 yards away. His two bodyguards pushed him to the ground and drew their guns.

“They basically forced me into the flowerbeds by the Cheesecake Factory,” James said.

He was uninjured. But two boys and a girl — 13, 15 and 16 years old — were wounded. A bullet grazed the girl’s face, and the two boys were shot in their legs, police said. None of the injuries was life-threatening. James said all three youths were in stable condition on Sunday.

Kansas City police continue to investigate the shootings and interview witnesses. Police believe some witnesses know the shooters’ identities but are reluctant to reveal their names.

The Plaza has been the scene of large crowds of underage people both this year and last, mostly on warm weekend evenings in the spring, summer and fall. Some come to see a movie and others are there simply to hang out, James said.

Generally, they are well behaved, but there have been sporadic bouts of violence and disorder.

The first notable occurrence was on April 10, 2010, when as many as 900 youths, some as young as 11, converged on the shopping and entertainment district that Saturday night. Police responded to reports of vandalism and assaults. One group of teens robbed and beat a couple from Grandview. A girl in a prom dress was shoved into a fountain. Fights broke out.

Police used pepper spray to disperse groups who refused to move along when instructed to do so.

Afterward, city officials and community leaders expressed their concern by staging a summit to look for ways to deal with the situation. The general agreement was that kids needed more activities.

At the time, City Councilwoman Cindy Circo said she would put together a “youth master plan” to see where there might be gaps between programs like Night Hoops basketball and other activities. However, no plan was developed. Circo now says she is unconvinced that more city-sponsored activities are the solution.

“We can have organized programs, but the kids who need to be there, aren’t,” she said in an interview before Saturday’s incident.

Circo, the mayor pro-tem, was at James’ side on Sunday as the mayor acknowledged that while more youth activities would give kids more things to do, it was not the city’s responsibility alone. Churches, schools and businesses, also, need to get involved, he said. But most of all he blamed parents for allowing their children to roam unattended late into the night at the Plaza and other gathering places in the city.

“We have a youth problem on the Plaza, but first and foremost we have a parent problem,” he said.

James said many of the kids he spoke with Saturday were from Wyandotte County, Grandview, Raymore and other suburbs, and had been dropped off by their parents. Any new plan of action the city develops, James said, needs to be aimed at getting the attention of parents who, he said, use the Plaza as “a babysitter.”

“How do we hold parents responsible?” he asked.

Police have repeatedly called on parents to be more responsible.

Philadelphia over the weekend began enforcing a 9 p.m. curfew on Fridays and Saturdays in areas that have seen even worse problems than Kansas City has experienced. Police arrested about 50 people the first night. Teens can be fined up to $300 and parents $500.

Kansas City’s current curfew is midnight on weekends and 11 p.m. the rest of the week. An initial violation results in a $1 fine. Subsequent violations are $500 or probation, which includes family counseling.

Exceptions to the curfew include going to work, school activities and doing errands for a parent, among others.

Among Plaza merchants who spoke with a reporter on Sunday there was a strong consensus that serious steps are needed to solve what they see as a serious problem.

“This isn’t the first time. There have been multiple shootings,” said Lydia Wade, 19, an employee at Cold Stone Creamery, citing an instance several weeks back in which gunshots were fired just west of the Plaza along 47th Street.

Wade said that only recently has she felt less safe and greater trepidation at the Plaza. Although Wade did not work this most recent Saturday night, she said she often does work the late Saturday night shift.

“Usually, Saturday nights, there are large groups of children who don’t even look like they should be on their own,” she said. “They’re out at, like, 11 p.m. They look like they’re 7 or 8 years old.”

She recalled one night seeing a band of what she estimated to be 20 to 40 teenagers and young children just walking together down the center of 47th Street.

“The police had to chase them out of the street,” she said.

A handful of merchants said they are torn between striking a balance between the rights of kids to congregate against business interests and the safety of other Plaza-goers.

“As a businessperson, it’s not good for business,” said Jocelyn Scoggin, an employee at the nearby shop Origins. “But do the kids have the right to walk where they want? They do.”

In an ill economy, she said, neither the Plaza nor the city can afford a reputation that damages commerce.

Scoggin said that after Saturday night’s shooting, she understands how the parents of any child, particularly teenagers, would be reluctant to send their children to the Plaza unaccompanied on a weekend night.

At N Valentino, manager Julie Brunson, 27, supports a curfew even though her store closes at 8 p.m.

“It doesn’t matter whether it happens at 8 at night or 2 in the morning,” she said of the violence. “When you have situations like this where people work, people live, people shop, it doesn’t help. I don’t want it to give people the wrong idea of the Plaza.”

On Saturday night, P.F. Chang’s manager Tony Hayman, 35, said he heard what he believed to be the first of at least six gunshots about 10:45 p.m. The doors to the restaurant had already been locked, he said, because of the late hour.

He said his first concern was to keep patrons inside as a mass of kids ran through the Plaza and police descended on horseback and in patrol cars. At least one helicopter hovered above.

“What really made it surreal was to see the yellow crime scene tape wrapped around the Plaza,” he said.

All open shops on the Plaza, he said, ended up closing early, including P.F. Chang’s.

“People were calling us and asking if there was a riot,” he said.

On Sunday, Hallie and Rob Stewart of Lenexa strolled along the Plaza with their 7-month-old son, Braylon. The couple moved to Kansas City in March from the Minneapolis area. They hadn’t heard of the shooting, but said that they recalled that several years ago the Mall of America was also forced to take measures, including a curfew, when groups of teenagers became overwhelming.

“I can see both sides of it,” Rob Stewart said. “On one hand, teenagers like to linger around. But I have to tell you, in terms of the economic impact, I’d rather have a curfew and make things safer than not.”

(WI) Scare at State Fair: witnesses describe mobs, including some claiming racially-charged attacksWTMJ-4 Milwaukee ^ | 8/3/2011 | By Jay Sorgi and the WTMJ News Team

WEST ALLIS - Witnesses tell Newsradio 620 WTMJ and TODAY'S TMJ4 of a mob of young people attacking innocent fair-goers at the end of the opening night of State Fair, with some callers claiming a racially-charged scene.

Milwaukee Police confirmed there were assaults outside the fair.

Witnesses' accounts claim everything from dozens to hundreds of young black people beating white people as they left State Fair Thursday night.

"It looked like they were just going after white guys, white people," said Norb Roffers of Wind Lake in an interview with Newsradio 620 WTMJ. He left the State Fair Entrance near the corner of South 84th Street and West Schlinger Avenue in West Allis.

"They were attacking everybody for no reason whatsoever."

"It was 100% racial," claimed Eric, an Iraq war veteran from St. Francis who says young people beat on his car.